January 24, 2010

Tallest building of the Netherlands cancelled

Filed under: Architecture by Branko Collin @ 2:20 pm

Plans for a 262-metre-high skyscraper proposed for the Utrecht neighbourhood Leidsche Rijn have been scrapped, Volkskrant reports. The city of Utrecht felt the risk of such an undertaking was too high in this time of crisis.

The building, which would have housed both apartments and offices, raised a storm of protest when it was first proposed. People feared that because of its height it would have been visible from as far as 60 kilometres away, dominating the view all around Utrecht. The general contractor was informed of the municipality’s decision earlier this year.

The skyscraper, designed by Architecten Cie., would have been called Belle van Zuylen after a Dutch renaissance writer of the same name who used to live in nearby Castle Zuylen.

The tallest structures in the Netherlands overwhelmingly remain masts for transmitting radio and TV signals, according to Wikipedia. The tallest habitable tower is the Maastoren in Rotterdam, at 152 metres.

(Source image: Architecten Cie. Project website: bellevanzuylen.info)

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August 23, 2009

Unemployed youth to help other unemployed youth find job

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 10:16 am

UWV, the Dutch organisation responsible for unemployment benefits, is going to train 200 unemployed and inexperienced young people to become junior job counsellors, Z24 reports (Dutch).

The first batch of 100 university or polytechnic schooled young people will start training right away, so that they can get started on their new job on October 1. The economic crisis is particularly brutal on this segment of the population who often deal with this by staying in school longer (Dutch) in the hopes of waiting out the crisis. Youths can get a student loan for up to 7 years.

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